The purpose of this study was to examine, from an Adlerian perspective, how religious conversion enables some individuals to make life-style changes. Data was collected from the autobiography of Thomas Merton, and interviews of two men and two women over the age of fifty having had religious conversions at least ten years in the past. The interview consisted of a life-style analysis, a measure of social interest, an analysis of conversion memories, a contextual report of the conversion, and a comparison of before and after the conversions in terms of five life tasks--work, love, community, spirituality and self-regulation. This research indicated that no one life-style type was predisposed to conversion. Change in life-style after religious conversion appeared to correlate with increased social interest rather than with change in dominant goal of behavior. Thus, changing life-style does not appear to require the difficult task of changing the dominant goal of behavior.

The purpose of this study was to examine, from an Adlerian perspective, how religious conversion enables some individuals to make life-style changes. Data was collected from the autobiography of Thomas Merton, and interviews of two men and two women over the age of fifty having had religious conversions at least ten years in the past. The interview consisted of a life-style analysis, a measure of social interest, an analysis of conversion memories, a contextual report of the conversion, and a comparison of before and after the conversions in terms of five life tasks--work, love, community, spirituality and self-regulation. This research indicated that no one life-style type was predisposed to conversion. Change in life-style after religious conversion appeared to correlate with increased social interest rather than with change in dominant goal of behavior. Thus, changing life-style does not appear to require the difficult task of changing the dominant goal of behavior.

en_US

dc.type

text

en_US

dc.type

Thesis-Reproduction (electronic)

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dc.subject

Religion, General.

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dc.subject

Psychology, General.

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dc.subject

Psychology, Clinical.

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dc.subject

Sociology, Individual and Family Studies.

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thesis.degree.name

M.A.

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thesis.degree.level

masters

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thesis.degree.discipline

Graduate College

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thesis.degree.discipline

Family and Consumer Resources

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thesis.degree.grantor

University of Arizona

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dc.contributor.advisor

Christensen, Oscar C.

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dc.identifier.proquest

1356789

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dc.identifier.bibrecord

.b314466689

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